Was Mary without sin?
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Life gets busy doesn’t it? I mean, it gets REAL busy! In the middle of all the hustle and bustle of life, I found a simple way to drastically change my prayer life taken directly from the life of a saint. However, before you dive into this let me warn you it involves your cell phone and a little pain.
If your life is like mine, your cell phone is the center of your day. I mean, honestly, how long do you go without looking at it, checking messages, or being on the phone? If you ever wonder how much you actually depend on your cell phone then just lose it for 10 minutes and see how panicked you get. But, could it actually improve your prayer life? I want to say emphatically YES and it put my entire mindset and worldview into check.
As I was reading my new books I had picked up at a conference on St. Clare (Clare and her sisters: lovers of the poor Christ by Madeline Pecora Nugent, SFO) I came across a section in the front talking about the canonical hours. It basically provided a timeline for the daily prayer times of St. Clare and her sisters. It gave an entire new meaning to “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:16). So, here’s my “simple” way my cell phone changed my prayer life. I took the hours the sisters prayed and plugged them into my calendar. I set my phone to alert me at each canonical hour and listed which prayers it was. I soon realized that my focus was not on the Lord during the day, it was on everything but God. When I thought I was doing “okay” in my prayer life, I realized mine was pathetic compared to the saints and the way God wants us to be every day.
I could not just stop about every two or three hours at work and go pray. You probably do not have that luxury either. But, as I prayed about feeling that I never seemed to have time to pray, I felt God just tell me to start off simple. I started with saying a “Hail Mary” every time my alert came up and if I was at work or somewhere that prevented me from actually spending some time in prayer. I would sometimes alternate it with a “Glory Be”.
As morning arrived and I savored my morning coffee, a quick glance to my phone showed the sisters would have prayed two to three times while I was asleep. Let me give you the hours and take a look for yourself: (taken from the book)
- Matins (vigils): First prayer of the night said around midnight.
- Lauds: prayer said at dawn
- Prime: prayer said at 6 a.m.
- Terce: prayer said at 9 a.m.
- Sext: prayer said at noon
- None: prayer said at 3 p.m.
- Vespers: prayer said between 3-6 p.m.
- Compline: last prayer of the day said before retiring for the night
I initially thought saying 8 prayers a day was a little “extreme” and soon realized I was not on my way to being a saint. It seemed like an impossible task but I remembered the words of Luke 1:37 of “for with God nothing is impossible”. Starting with a “Glory Be” or “Hail Mary”, I have now seen how it actually refocuses my attention throughout the day and my spirit is more sensitive to the Lord.
Do you want more of God in your life? Do you feel like God is not present throughout the day with you? Do you know something is missing within your daily walk with him?
CHALLENGE: Take your cell phone and set the hours of prayer as outlined in the lives of St. Clare and her sisters. Make a commitment that you will pray during at least three of those for the first day or two, then work on increasing that to more of them throughout your daily life.
Extreme? Perhaps. But, was Jesus not extreme in His love for us?
Amelia Monroe Carlson graduated from the University of North Alabama with a Bachelor’s Degree in journalism. Being raised as a Methodist during her early years, it was not until she entered college where she began to take her faith seriously. She was baptized as a Southern Baptist in Muscle Shoals, AL and began immediately serving in international missions and in the church.
During college, she became the Co-founder of an International Ministry, where she spent time traveling and speaking to church groups and in large conferences. She authored a Bible study and traveled abroad on mission work. She sat on the Mid-South Interfaith Conferences in Mississippi, where she defended the faith and discussed beliefs with leaders of various religions.
After a business trip to Washington D.C., where she was introduced to a former Baptist who converted to the Catholic Church, she was placed on a journey to enter into the Catholic Church.
Amelia is a military wife and currently residents with her husband and daughter in Tennessee. She is a nine time award winning journalist, receiving press awards for various categories including investigative journalism, best news coverage, and best single feature. It is her desire to help Catholics, particularly Cradle Catholics, see the beauty in their faith which converts see and appreciate the fullness of truth which the Church has held and guarded throughout history. It is her desire all Catholics fall as much in love with Jesus as she is, and love the Church to a greater capacity than they could imagine.
Amelia taught PRE for 4-6 grade at St. Mary Catholic Church in Bolivar, Tennessee from 2014-2016. She served as Youth Director at St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church in Somerville, Tennessee in 2017-2018. She now teaches 7th grade (1st year Confirmation) PRE class at St. Philip. She's also a writer and frequent podcast guest on Our Warpath.
She has a strong devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Francis de Sales, St. Padre Pio and St. Maximilian Kolbe.
To contact Amelia for speaking inquiries at conferences, retreats, or parishes contact her via social media on Facebook (Amelia Monroe Carlson), Twitter (@2_catholic ) or send a text to: (731)518-6923.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ameliamcarlson
Twitter: @2_catholic (Catholic ministry account)
Twitter personal account: @ameliamcarlson
